Prep basketball: Ross-Badin rivalry resumes with maroon-and-gold win

The Ross-Badin prep boys basketball rivalry returned to the court Saturday night. Quite literally, it rocked.

A standing-room-only crowd packed into Badin’s Mulcahey Gym and gave the players a thunderous, electric atmosphere to compete in, with Ross emerging as the 46-41 victor in the Butler County showdown.

Landen Angel scored 13 points, while Cody Geers and Cooper Shields both had 8, for the winners. Ross jumped out to a 19-6 lead, fell behind briefly near the end of the third quarter, then limited Badin to 6 points in the last period.

It was the first Ross-Badin matchup since BHS recorded a 36-33 victory on Dec. 4, 2010, and it was the first win for Ross since a 42-41 triumph on Dec. 28, 2004. The two squads only squared off three times in the intervening years (Badin wins in 2008-09, 2009-2010 and 2010-2011).

Jakob Tipton (11) and Daunte DeCello (9) led the scoring for Badin, which shot just 30 percent from the floor, made 2 of 17 shots from beyond the arc and converted 13 of 23 free throws.

Both teams are back at it Tuesday. Ross (11-7) will visit Talawanda, while Badin (9-9) travels to Northwest.